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Tennessee football in four-star 2022 DE Ken Talley’s top 13

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 11: Detailed view of the checkered endzone at Neyland Stadium during a game between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Chattanooga Mocs on October 11, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Tennessee won the game 45-10. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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Edge rusher Ken Talley of Philadelphia, Pa. has the Tennessee football Volunteers in his top 13.

Over the weekend, Tennessee football made the cut for multiple elite defensive players. One day after making the top 10 for four-star 2021 Alabama defensive tackle Tim Keenan III, the Vols made the cut for a top 2022 Pennsylvania edge rusher.

Ken Talley, listed as an athlete on Rivals but a weakside defensive end on 247Sports and ESPN, announced that UT was in his top 13. A member of the 2022 recruiting class out of Northeast High School in Philadelphia, Pa., Talley is a four-star on Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.

In addition to Tennessee football, Talley had the Penn State Nittany Lions, Pittsburgh Panthers, Michigan Wolverines, West Virginia Mountaineers, Maryland Terrapins, Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Kentucky Wildcats, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Florida Gators, Texas A&M Aggies, Ole Miss Rebels and Arizona State Sun Devils on his list. He announced the schools on Twitter Sunday.

As of right now, the Vols still don’t have any commitments for their 2022 class. However, Talley, who stands at 6’2″ 225 pounds, would be a great first pickup. Jeremy Pruitt definitely has reason to worry about the future of edge rushers.

With the departure of Darrell Taylor, the Vols are looking to Kivon Bennett and Deandre Johnson to help out this year, but Johnson is a senior, and Bennett is a junior. Beyond them, there are no weakside edge rushers with experience in the program.

Guys like Roman Harrison, Tamarion McDonald, Morven Joseph and Dylan Brooks have all been recruited to help fill that void, but Pruitt has been lamenting his lack of depth among such edge rushers ever since arriving on Rocky Top. With nobody proven beyond 2021, he clearly needs more help there for the future.

Taking that into account, Talley, who said he will announce Sept. 8, would be a great pickup. It’s also worth noting that the Vols do have some connections into Philly, as offensive lineman Jahmir Johnson and defensive back Romello Edwards both come from there.

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Currently, Penn State is the unanimous favorite to land him on the 247Sports Crystal Ball and the majority favorite on the Rivals Fan Future Cast. However, there are no Rivals Future Cast predictions yet, so Tennessee football has lots of advantages and should continue to pursue him heavily. They could definitely make headway with Talley.

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